Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of ​​Galilee (or Tiberias). 2 A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was doing in curing the sick.

 

John 6:1-15. XVII Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 28, 2024.

Gospel

1 Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of ​​Galilee (or Tiberias). 2 A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was doing in curing the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4 The Passover, the Jewish feast, was near. 5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew very well what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered, "Two hundred pieces of silver would not be enough to give each of them a piece of bread." 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said, 9 "There is a boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. What are they among so many?" 10 Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and about five thousand men sat down there. 11 Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed as much as they wanted to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. 12 When they had all had enough, Jesus said to his disciples, "Gather up the fragments that are left over, so that nothing will be lost." 13 They picked up the fragments and filled twelve baskets with the pieces left over from the five loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 When the men saw the sign that Jesus had performed, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world." 15 But when he saw that they were trying to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

— Word of Salvation.

Reflection

Jesus crossed to the other side of the Sea of ​​Galilee or Tiberias. The term “sea” is given by Israel to any large body of water. So Jesus crossed this great lake or “sea” many times in order to announce the Kingdom on the other side as well and perhaps, according to Theophylact, to test the will of the people and to make the men of each city more eager and solicitous in the faith (Catena Aurea, Gospel of Saint John, 208). The crowd that followed him was truly eager, but for miracles. They knew that Jesus had healed the blind, the lame, the crippled, cast out demons, raised the dead, among other things. So he could also perform some of these miracles there. Saint John Chrysostom says that the search for miracles indicates how coarse their souls were. The wisest, on the other hand, were inclined towards doctrine (Ut supra in Catena Aurea, 206). In fact, Jesus went up the mountain and sat down with his disciples to teach them. Among so many teachings, some of them referred to the hungry crowd and how his disciples would face this reality. Jesus puts them to the test, tests them in the midst of his teaching. This event is also discussed by all the evangelists. It is certainly a very important event for the apostles and disciples and for the entire ecclesial community. In this chapter, John mentions, in addition to this multiplication, also the walk of Jesus on the water and ends it with the discourse on the bread from heaven and the crisis in many disciples. In this multiplication of the loaves, some themes are addressed, such as the trip to an abandoned place, the presence of a crowd, the Passover of the Jews, the people's incomprehension in the face of the sign performed by Jesus, the actions of the disciples and the initiative of the Master in the action and performance of the miracle.